Vaporized gas and air starter for automobiles and the like



vJul 10, 1928. Q

. 1,676,591 J. H. WELLER vAPonIzEn GAS Arm AIR swam: FOR AUTOMOBILES in mi LIKE 11 Ayn-1'19, s Sheets-Sheet '2 Inventor wf-Bjpmmm 14 ttorn g)" Patented July 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

JOHN EwnLLER. or CADILLAC, mama.

varomznn ens ANnAm scranrnn roa' auromomnns AND ran LIKE."

Application filed April 19,

ly for the internal combustion engines on automobiles, trucks and like vehicles.

An important object of the invention resides in the provision of means whereby a supply of vaporized gas may be stored upunderressure, during the o eration' of the interna combustionengine or the purpose of using thisvaporized gas under pressure I to start the engine.

Another very important object of the 'invention lies in the provision of means for properly distributing the vaporized gas under pressure, to the cylinders .in proper firing order. h p

Anoth r important-object of the invention lies in the provision of automatic valve means-which will cause the device to shut off at a predetermined pressure being. at-

tained in the tank for storing the vaporized gas, and will then cause the compressor to deliver air to'another tank to be stored under ressure therein, for the purpose of inflatmg tires, cleaning-purposes, and. for general use,vas may be desired. I A still further very important object of the invention lies-in the rovision; of an apparatus of, this. nature,'w ich" is'flcomparav tively simple inits construction,inexpensive to manufacture and install, thoroughly efficient and reliable in operation, compact and convenient, and otherwise well adapted to the urpose for which it is designed.- 3.

ith the above and numerous other objects in view, as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention residesincer tain novel features of construction, and inv the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter 'more fully described and claimed. l Inthedrawin I Figurel is a'slde elevation of aninter'nal,

' combustion 81151116 with my lmproved ap-fl paratus applie thereto. v w y Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof, .Fi re 3 is a vertical sectionthrough the reguator. J Figure'4 is a vertical section through the,

compressor. v

1927. Serial No. 184,989.

Figure 5 is.avertical section through the d str butor, and Y I, I Figure 6- is a horizontal section; theref .throu h. I

R verring to the drawing in detail, it will 66 be seen that the numeral5 denotes generally an. Internal combustion engine of any con- Y ventio'nal; or preferred type, which in the present instance is designed with anintake manifold 6 leading from a carburetor 7. B0 The numeral; 8, denotes the electrical or' ignition distributor, having the usual wires 9 extending therefrom for the various spark plugs 10 of the engine. This electrical distributor 8 is mounted on the distributor shaft denoted by the numeral 11. The numeral 12 denotes the cam shaft of the-engine. The

parts thus fardescribed are of conventional or an; other preferred construction, and have been llustrated herein-merely to demonstrate 117'" the operation, utility and advantages of my 4 improved apparatus.

. The letter R denotes generally thef 1 lator. Thel'etter A denotes the vaporized gas tank, and the letter B- the air tankfll i The letter D denotes generally the vaporized gas under pressure distributor.

Attention is first directed to the reg ulator I A I R which is formed with ablockbody casting, drilled, or otherwise formed to provide so a oglinder 21, opening through thetop of the b0 y 20 to threadedly receive a valve guide 22, m the upper end of which is threaded a cap 23, in which is threaded a coupling member 24 leading from a pipe'2 5 which is 5 tapped as at 26, into the intake manifold 6. The bottom of the-cap 23 is formed with a valve seat 27. A assage 28 is connected by :1 coupling 29 wit the compressor which is denoted generally by "the letter "C. The

coupling 29 leads from the intake 76 of the compressor C as will be more apparent as. the descrlptlon proceeds. Abyrpass 30 leads from the passage 28 into the interior of the valve guide 22. A valve stem 31 is slidable through the valve guide 22 and has a. valve 32 ,at 1ts upper end for closing the seat 27, in a manner to be explained later. An-v other by-pass 33 leads from the'passage 28 through still another by-pass 34; A valve 109 41 has its bottom end open and its top end closed and is slidably mounted in th cylinder 40 and is normally held downwardly by a spring 42. An opening 43 is provided in the piston 41 to normally register with a passage 44, formed in one side of the block 20 and into which is threaded a coupling 45, from a pipe 46, leading to the tank A. A cap 47 is threadedly engaged in the "bottom of the cylinder 40 and the piston 41 normally rests thereagainst. A coupling 48 is threadedly engaged in the cap to normally communicate with. the interior of the piston. This coupling 48 is on a pipe 49 leading to the outlet. 78 of the compressor- C, by means of a coupling 50. as will be more clearly hereinafter described. A cylinder 52 -is formed in the body 20 in parallelism with the cylinders 21 and 40 and alongside of them. A cap 53 is threaded into the lower end of the cylinder 52 and has a plurality of openings 54 at the inner nd thereof. A groove 56 is formed in the cylinder about the cap and in registry with the openings 54. A by-pa-ss 57 connects the cylinder 40 with the groove 56 and it is to be noted that this bypass 57 is normally cut off by the piston 41. A hollow piston 58 is slidablc in the cylinder 52 and has its upper end closed and its lower end open and is provided with a side opening 59 adjacent its upper closed end, An opening 60 leads from the upper end of the cylinder 52 to the atmosphere. A cap 61 is threaded in the upper end of the cylinder 52 and has threaded therethrough a screw 62 on the inner end of which is swivelled a plate 63. A spring 64 is disposed in the cylinder 52 and impinges against the plate Y63, and the closed ends of the piston 58 to normally hold the piston 58 downwardly in abutment with the cap 53. Obviously, the tension of the spring 64 may be regulated by operation of the ,Screw 62. A coupling 65 is tapped into the body 20 to communicate with the interior of the cylin der 52, and isconnected with a pipe 66 leading to the air tank B.

The'compressor C includes a cylinder 67-,

on a'erank case 68, having aperture-dears 69 in order that it may be bolted, as at70, to the crank case of the internal cornbus' ion,

engine 5. The cam shaft l2 extends from the crank case of the engine into the case 68 and has a ram 71 thereon in the case 68, operable. in a cam ring 72 on a connecting rod 73 engaged with th wrist pin 74 of a piston 75, mounted for rectilinear move ment in the cylinder 67, The numeral 76 denotes the intake and the numeral 78 denotes the outlet. The coupling 29 heretofore referred to, has a check valve 77 mounted therein, to allow air to pass inwardly of the compressor only. An oppositely operating check valve 79 is mounted in the outlet 78.

Referring to the operation of the device, as thus far progressed, it will be seen that when the internal combustion engine is in operation, the piston will reciprocate in the cylinder 67, so as to intake at 76 and exhaust at 78. The low pressure set up in the intake 76 will cause a suction through the coupling 29, passage 28, by-pass 30, coupling 24, and pipe 25, to take vaporized gas from the intake manifold-6. This vaporized gas will fill the cylinder 67 on the down stroke of the piston 75, and on the upper stroke of the piston 75 will saidgas be forced through the check valve 79, through the outlet 78, through the coupling 50, pipe 49,

coupling 48, into the piston 41, through the up in the tank A to a predetermined point,-

it will be seen that the piston 41v will be caused to raise inthc cylinder 40, until the closed end thereof engages the lower end of the valve stem 31 and lifts the valve 36 off the valve seat opening 35 and causes the valve 32 to close against'the. valve seat 27, thereby preventing further'suction through the pipe 25, from the intake manifold 6. At the same time, the passage 44 will be closed, since the opening 43 will have moved up into the cylinder 40 out of registry with the passage 44. This will communicate the bottom of the cylinder 40 with the passage 57, and therefore it will be seen that the low pressure created at the intake 76, upon further operation of the compressor C, will cause a suction to be set up through the coupling 29, passage 28. passage 34, passage 33, (at this point it will be noted that paswill be sucked into the cylinder 67 on the down stroke of the piston 75, will be forced out of said cylinder in, the upstroke of the piston, through check valvev 79'-and outlet '78, through coupling 50, through pipe 49,

through coupling 48 into thebottom of the cylinder 40 and through passage 57, through groove 56 and openings 54 toraise the piston- 58 until the opening 59 registers with the coupling 65 so that the air will pass through v the 'k-pipe 66,1check valve 81, and into the air will escape to the'atmosphere.

The air from the tank B may be used through a suitable hose connection 82 and passages 99 are formed. This top is pre hose 83, or in any other suitable manner.

The vaporized gas in the tank A escapes through pipe 84,-hav;ing a control valve 85 pipe 84 con-.

incorporated therein. This nects with the distributor D. This distributor D comprises abody 87, having a reservoir 88 therein, with a threaded intakeopening 89, so that the pipe 84 may be coupled therewith. A plurality of distributor conduits 90 are formed 'in the top of the body 87 leading from the reservoir 88. This distributor has a disc valve 91 mounted in the reservoir to close off the passages 90, and has a single opening 92 which is successively brought into registry with the passages 90 to successively connect them with the reser voir 80. Pipes, hose, or other conductors 92 leadfrom the passages 90 to the various cylinders of the internal combustion engine. The disc 91 has a hub 93, keyed as at 94, to the shaft 11, The lower end of this hub is journaled in tube 95 of the body 87 through which the shaft 11 extends. A gasket 96 is seated in a recess 97, in the reservoir 88 about the hub 93 and is held tightly in place by a coil spring 99, which impinges against the gasket and against the disc 91, to hold the same tightly in engagement withthe top of the body 87,in which. the distributin erably separable from the remaining portion of the body and a gasket 100 is interposed between the top and the body, 7

When it is desired to start the engine, it

will be seen that the ignition is turned on and the valve '85 is turnedon, and-the conduit 92 communicating with the cylmder having its. piston ready to fire will have lts corresponding passage 90 in registry-with the opening 92,50 that vaporized gas, under pressure,.is fed to this cylinder, forcing its piston downwardly and at the same time, the sparkplug will ignite this highly compressed gas, and thus the engine will be given its initial momentum. As the engine picks up itsyspeed, after the various cylinders arefired, it will be readily understood that the valve 85 is shut ofi'.

It is thought that the construction, oper: ation, and advantages of this invention will now be quite apparent to those skilled in this art, without a more detailed description thereof,

The present embodiment 'ofthe invention has been disclosed in detail, merely. by way of example, since in actual practice, it attains the features of advantage enumerated as desirablein the statement of the invention and the above description. It will be apparent that changes in the details of construction, and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed or sacrific- 1. A regulator for the purpose specified,

comprising a body having a cylinder formed therein, a valve guide in the cylinder, a

valve seat capvin the cylinder,-said body formed with a passage adapted to lead from the suction end of a compressor, a valve stem in the guide, a valve on the end'of the valve stem c'ooperable with the valve seat cap, a by-pass leading from the first menextends, means communicating the bottom of the second cylinder with the outlet end of a compressor, a hollow piston slidable in the second cylinder, spring means normally holding the piston downwardly, said piston having'an opening, said body formed with a passage leading from the bottom of the second cylinder and adapted to be connected with a storage tank, said body formed with tioned passage into the other end of the a third cylinder, a passage leading from the bottom of the second cylinder to the bottom of the third c linder, a piston slidable in the third cy inder and of hollow construction and having its side opening, said body having an'opening adjacent its upper end adapted to be communicated with an air tank, and also rovided with an escape passage above t e last mentioned opening, spring means in the third cylinder normally holding the hollow piston therein downwardly.

2. In an apparatus of the class-described,

and in combination, a regulator, a compressor, a pair of tanks, conduits between the tanks and the regulator, intake and exhaust conduits leading from the compressor to the regulator, said regulator including conduits leading from difi'erent sources of gas to be compressed, means in the regulator for connecting one conduit of the regulator with the intake conduit, means in the regulator for connecting the conduit of one tank with the exhaust. conduit, means in the regulator for conncctingthe other conduit of the regulator with the intake conduit, means in the regulator for connecting the conduit with the other tank with the exhaust conduit, means normally cutting of)? the second two mentionedmeans, pressure responsive means controlled by'the pressure in said 10 one tank and operable to oppositely actuate said second two mentioned means and to cut. off the first two mentioned means.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

JOHN H. WELLER. 

